Food Chain

Food Web

In the Taiga biome, there is a vast number of species present in teh ecosystem. A lot of species means that the energy in the biome has to travel longer.

Starting at the bottom of the food chain and food web is the vegetation, for example in my food chain and web the grass, berries and trees. These organisms are the producers of the food chain. These producers are then eaten by the primary consumers, herbivores (eats only plants) and some by the omnivores (eats both plants and other animals). The energy travels from the producers to the primary consumers and provides them with the energy they need. The primary consumers are then eaten by the secondary consumers including the carnivores (eats meat), omnivores, and herbivores. And then the secondary consumers are then eaten by yet another level of consumers.

In my food web, it is shown that the berries are eaten by the porcupine. The energy from the berries travels through the porcupine and is absorbed. Then, the porcupine is eaten by the ermine. The energy from the berries traveled through the porcupine and then into the ermine and is absorbed by the ermine. Then the ermine is eaten by the Great Horned Owl. When the energy is absorbed by the owl, it has lost a lot of the power it originally had.

In the taiga, the food chain is packed full of predator-prey relationships. In order to keep the ecosystem in balance, the numbers of different species also have to be kept in balance. For example, if the porcupine population is too low, the ermine population would not have enough to eat. If the ermine numbers went down, so would the Great Horned Owl numbers. Populations rely on one another to keep each other alive and stable. If one population is decreased or taken out completely, the rest of the food chain is affected because they rely on the organism for food.

An invasive species could greatly affect an entire ecosystem, throwing it completely out of balance. For example, if a different species of snake was introduced into the ecosystem and managed to successfully reproduce, this could pose a big threat to the numbers of the different populations in the biome. The snake would begin to devour the food that other native species greatly need and thus, possibly destroying that population. Since snakes can produce many young at one time, in just a short period of time, thousands of invasive snakes would be introduced into the environment, completely destroying the order and balance that was previously present. This could break up and liberate the whole ecosystem. The only way to prevent an invasive species is to be careful with the different species that are introduced into the ecosystem.

Many different factors can affect a population and its growth. Some of these factors depend on the size of the population, others don't. "Density-independent factors is a factor that affects a population in a manner that does not vary according to the density of the population, it is acting on its own, for example, fire and floods and other natural disasters. Whereas, a density-dependent factor is a factor that affects a population based on its population, including, amount of resources(food,water,shelter), disease, etc. Density factors usually cause the population to either increase or decrease according to the positive or negative affect it has on an ecosystem" (Yahoo Answers).

Food Pyramid

The energy pyramid shows the travel of energy through a food chain. At the bottom of the pyramid is the producer which is the grass. The producer has 100% of the energy available. As the energy travels up through the pyramid, most of the energy is lost. By the time the energy gets to the top of the pyramid, only about 10% of the initial energy is available for the consumer to use.

Energy is lost because some of the energy that is absorbed is used before the organism dies. What ever energy is not used before it dies is then absorbed by the consumer that eats the dead organism.